Hostel experience at Nishinari Ward , Osaka , Japan

Nishinari Ward was where our hostel was located for our first night in Osaka, Japan. I knew little about the area to say the least. After seeing the reaction of my wife’s friends at dinner upon hearing where we were staying , I became a little worried.

Thankfully all the worrying was all for nothing and I actually found Nishinari Ward very charming in it’s own blue-collar way.

We arrived in Nishinari late after having dinner near Osaka Station . We were looking for Sun Plaza 2 Hotel near the Dobutsuenmae Station.I noticed a lot of hostels one after another on this street. There was advertising on the sidewalk for room prices and pictures of bathing amenities which was a big selling point. My wife told me the hostels here are cheap because few tourists and especially locals frequent the area because of its reputation. I never felt unsafe at all and there were a lot of tourists and locals still walking around late night. I heard the area is becoming very popular with backpackers due to the cheap lodging.

Finally we got to our hostel and checked in . My wife reserved a single room for 2,600 Yen, roughly $21.00 at Rakuten Travel. The front desk only takes cash and the lobby is loaded with vending machines for any craving you may want because obviously there won’t be any room service here . If you want hot water for your instant ramen or coffee you have to wait until they bring out the thermos in the morning.

There were common toilets on every floor and shared showers and bathing rooms on the first floor. There are also signs everywhere in the shower and bath areas . All in Japanese apparently telling guests what time it’s ok to use the baths or what shower room is for men or women. I didn’t see any English signs so I had to tread carefully so as not to enter the wrong room by mistake.

The room itself was a small tatami room big enough for a single futon with a small tv and table. They also lock the front door at 11:30 PM but keep a back door unlocked which I thought was weird .Overall the hostel was clean. A lot of the other guests we like us, budget conscious tourists.

We stepped out to get some coffee and water at the Family Mart conveniently located across the street before realizing there was a Family Mart more conveniently located a few steps from our hostel’s front door. I was too tired to take a shower and the caffeine didn’t help keep me awake so we decided to call it a night and get an early start exploring nearby Shinsekai and Namba tomorrow.

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About Us

Travelling and eating , that is what we do. This blog was created to share our experiences , random thoughts and lessons we learned while traveling and eating our way around this beautiful planet. Cheers.
-Roel & Kazumi